1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sawn timber testing apparatus system, particularly for the continuous detection of sawn timber, as well as to a process for testing such timber.
2. Description of Related Art
In known timber testing systems a mechanical momentum is given to one side of the timber plank to be tested. By means of a plurality of sensors fitted at predetermined distances from the plank, the pulse response of a shock wave produced by the same material under test is measured. The data supplied by the sensors are fed into a process computer, which determines, from the measured transit times, the modulus of elasticity of the material between the sensors. Conclusions can then be drawn regarding the existence of a fault in the wooden plank from the deviations from the standard values.
However, this process can only be used in the case of planks having the same length. If production is to be changed to different lengths for the next batch, a relatively complicated and costly adaptation is required.
In addition, this known process cannot reliably detect all the wood faults which occur in the same way. These, in fact, include color faults, which cannot be detected. Another disadvantage is that the sensors must be fitted to each plank to be measured. Thus, continuous operation is not possible with the aforementioned process.